Syracuse's Dion Waiters: 'I was not going to let him shoot it'

Dennis Nett / The Post-StandardSyracuse's Dion Waiters runs out to defend against the shot by Wisconsin's Jordan Taylor with just seconds remaining in Thursday night's East Region semifinal. The shot missed, and Syracuse won the game 64-63.

Boston – At one point this season, Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim suggested Dion Waiters might be the best offensive guard he’d ever coached.

But on Thursday, as the TD Arena crowd reminded itself to breathe, the SU coach needed his sophomore guard to play some defense.

The Wisconsin Badgers, makers of 14 3-pointers, had the ball with 18.9 seconds left. Syracuse led by one.

Waiters was sure Jordan Taylor would attempt the last Wisconsin shot. Taylor had already drained 5-of-9 from 3-point range, some of those shots stretching to 23 feet. And Waiters decided that Taylor was not going to beat the Orange. Not if he could help it.

“I was not going to let him shoot it,” Waiters said. “It was the same thing against Connecticut and Lamb and Napier – you make ‘em feel uncomfortable.

“Let somebody else take the shot,” Waiters said. “You’re not taking the shot.”

Finally, with three seconds left in the game, Taylor heaved a 25-footer that did not reach the rim. Waiters had run him that far out on the perimeter.

“It was on the line and I felt like I got my legs into it,” Taylor said. “I knew it was a deep three, but it felt good. And then to see it kind of come up short was kind of heartbreaking.”

Boeheim, who made it clear last season that Waiters needed to make more of an effort on the defensive end, said Waiters’ defense “has been good, really, this year.”

“I got mad at him in the first half when Taylor hit that three and (Waiters) didn’t get over the screen,” Boeheim said. “I was trying to get him out of there and he made two buckets before I could get him out of there.”